WPTA-DT2
WPTA-DT2 is the CW-affiliated TV station for Fort Wayne, Indiana. The station is part of The CW+, a special CW feed that broadcasts on cable & / or over-the-air on a DT signal. It's a 2nd DT subchannel of ABC affiliate WPTA that is owned by Malara Broadcasting & operated under a LMA by Granite Broadcasting Corporation. Over-the-air, WPTA-DT2 broadcasts a DT signal on UHF ch. 24.2 from WPTA's transmitter located on Butler Road in Fort Wayne. Via cable, the station is offered on Verizon FiOS ch. 6 & Comcast ch. 19. WISE-DT2's parent station has studios on Butler Road in Fort Wayne. It's known on-air as Fort Wayne CW 19 / 7. History The station began broadcasting on January 11, 1995. It was affiliated with the new WB network & was part of The WB 100+ operation. The station was only offered on cable & had the fictional call letters "WBFW". On January 24 2006, The WB & UPN announced that they would end broadcasting & merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the 1st initial of it's corporate parents, CBS (the parent company of UPN) & the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that they would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to FOX, would be operated by FOX TV Stations & it's syndication division, Twentieth TV. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN & WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. CBS affiliate WANE-TV aired UPN on a 2nd DT subchannel. The Fort Wayne affiliate of The WB was cable-only "WBFW" which was part of The WB 100+ operation. That station was co-owned with WPTA by Malara Broadcasting. It was announced in March that "WBFW" would affiliate with The CW via The CW+ (a similar operation to The WB 100+). WPTA decided to create a new 2nd DT sub-channel to simulcast "WBFW" & offer access to CW programming for over-the-air viewers. On September 5, WISE-TV moved NBC Wx+ from it's 2nd DT subchannel in order for it to become the area's affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Wx+ then began airing on WISE-TV's new 3rd DT subchannel. On September 18, The CW debuted on "WBFW" (which became officially known as having the WPTA-DT2 calls). The station then became known on-air as "Fort Wayne's CW". Newscasts Like most WB 100+ affiliates, WBFW offered the nationally syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz, on weekdays from 6-9. When WBFW became WPTA-DT2, the station began simulcasting a weeknight 10 PM newscast that was airing on WISE-TV's 2nd DT subchannel that has a MyNetworkTV affiliation. The Daily Buzz (Weekday Mornings from 6-9 AM) *Anchors: **Andy B. Campbell **Andrea Jackson *News Updates: **Kia Malone *Weather: **Mitch English Indiana's NewsCenter Prime News @ 10 (Weeknights from 10-10:30 PM) *Anchor: **Linda Jackson *Weather: **Curtis Smith *Sports: **Dean Pantazi WPTA-DT2 features additional news personnel from WPTA & WISE-TV. See each article for a complete listing. External links *WPTA-DT2, Fort Wayne's CW 19 / 7's Website *WPTA, 21 Alive's Website *The CW's Website